Customer Reviews

Our Day Will Come: Very Best of

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you love good music, order this album. Ruby and the Romantics are known mainly for the hit "Our Day Will Come" but believe me they were no ONE HIT WONDERS. Rubys sweet melodic voice and the impeccable harmonies of the Romantics will set the mood for a wonderful candle light dinner, background for a low-key cocktail party or an intimate evening in front of a crackling fire.
There are songs on here you have not heard in probably 30 years.
This REALLY is a great album and would make a wonderful gift during the holidays or any time.

RUBY and THE ROMANTICS are one of the great FORGOTTEN groups of POP/R&B HISTORY .FORGOTTEN , BUT NOT DESERVEDLY SO. THESE GUYS (AND GIRL } COULD S I N G !! Fantastic harmonies... great stage presence...LUSH instrumental backgrounds ...beautiful lead vocals by RUBY NASH....THIS GROUP HAD IT ALL ! Most people today only remember THE ROMANTICS as the group that recorded the number 1 smash " OUR DAY WILL COME " ...But,they were much,much more.They were , quite simply, one of the most INFLUENTIAL GROUPS EVER !! Many of their songs were actually re- recorded years later by OTHER artists...who sadly , had MUCH BIGGER HITS with them...which was a tribute to the TALENTED , FINE group they actually were. Examples : Their hit "WHEN YOU'RE YOUNG AND IN LOVE " became a much bigger hit for Motown's MARVELETTES. Their song " HURTING EACH OTHER " became a big one years later for THE CARPENTERS. Their hit " HEY THERE LONELY BOY" became a smash for EDDIE HOLMAN AS " HEY THERE LONELY GIRL " , their BIGGEST HIT..." OUR DAY WILL COME " became a disco smash for THE 4 Seasons' FRANKIE VALLI .Even their name "THE ROMANTICS" was eventually STOLEN by a rock group,the members of which probably weren't EVEN BORN when they had their first hits. Why did all these other artists have much bigger hits with the ROMANTICS' songs than they did ? It certainly wasn't due to lack of talent since , in many cases, their originals sounded much better than the REMAKES. Part of the reason, in my opinion,had to do with the fact their record label, KAPP RECORDS ,part of what is today known as the (MCA} UNIVERSAL MUSIC GROUP, had almost zero experience with the marketing and promotion of R&B artists. This was , after all, the label responsible for such MOR ARTISTS as ROGER WILLIAMS,BURT BACHARACH,AND LOUIS ARMSTRONG. Also, during the groups' heyday ('62-'67 } , the national music charts were dominated by stiff competition from MOTOWN, with their similar group GLADYS KNIGHT AND THE PIPS, the BRITISH INVASION GROUPS, powerful R&B artists such as JAMES BROWN AND THE FAMOUS FLAMES , JACKIE WILSON,and LITTLE ANTHONY AND THE IMPERIALS ,Chicago's IMPRESSIONS, GENE CHANDLER ,AND THE DELLS, CALIFORNIA BEACH GROUPS,(THE BEACH BOYS, JAN & DEAN, AND OTHERS), and FOLK ARTISTS ,such as PETER ,PAUL, AND MARY , making it very hard to compete.But the artists and insiders in the industry knew who RUBY AND THE ROMANTICS were,(such as the afore mentioned CARPENTERS,who also covered their hit " YOUR BABY DOESN'T LOVE YOU ANYMORE" }, and so did a select group of loyal fans. As a teen growing up in the sixties, I was one of that latter group. I remember their songs "YOUNG WINGS CAN FLY " , "MY EVERLASTING LOVE" , "DOES HE REALLY CARE FOR ME and especially the incredible "MOONLIGHT AND MUSIC " (WRITTEN by THE ROMANTICS' LEROY FANN), were among the greatest DOO WOP classics ever recorded .(They were "quiet storm " long before the term became popular). I never thought that all these classic songs would ever see the light of day on one CD , and it took a foreign label to release it . If you want an example of the best in mellow , romantic (pun intended ) '60's pop / r&b, look no further then " OUR DAY WILL COME : THE BEST OF RUBY AND THE ROMANTICS - LEROY FANN, ED ROBERTS,GEORGE LEE,AND RONALD MOSLEY-You'll see why they deserve a place among the greatest soul/r&b groups of all time !!

**** and 1/2
Ruby & the Romantics have been poorly served by best-of collections, which are too brief and skimpy.
This two-CD, 42-song set goes too far in the other direction, and not everything on here is exciting or worthy of multiple listens by any means. Still, too much is better than too little, and this does thoroughly cover the prime era of the original lineup at Kapp from 1963-1967.
On the plus side, this convincingly demonstrates that there was more depth and quality than is commonly acknowledged to a group that is often remembered only for one song ("Our Day Will Come") or regarded as a lightweight pop-soul group.
There are numerous good blends of girl group Brill Building pop and smooth soul (and, often, light to heavy touches of bossa nova) on disc one in particular.
Star tracks include the soaring Van McCoy composition "When You're Young and in Love", the doo wop-indebted "Moonlight and Music" (penned by the Romantics' Leroy Fann), the obscure Bacharach/David ballad, the delicate bossa nova of "Our Everlasting Love", and, above all, the delicious "Hey There Lonely Boy", eventually reworked into a number two hit in 1969 by Eddie Holman as "Hey There Lonely Girl". Unfortunately, much of disc two is stuffed with dull covers of pop standards that filled out their early LPs. If the standards were omitted, this would be a highly credible and varied anthology, staking a fair claim for the band as an underrated outfit in the poppiest segment of early soul.
For the record, all but one of these tracks date from their stint with Kapp; oddly, one post-Kapp cut, the 1968 ABC single "No More," is thrown in too. R. Unterberger

This album is full of songs from the 60's. My reason for ordering it was to get the song,"Our Day Will Come" which was "Our Song!!" The first time I put it on in the car, my husband remembered "Our Day Will Come" was our special song!!! The other songs are good too. Thanks.

I thought the only way Ruby and the Romantics would ever be heard again would be on the pop stations of radio. But thanks for comming out with a cd of their best hits. They are always a pleasure to listen to.

I bought this CE set primarily for "Our Day Will Come". What a treat when I played it. In addition to some of the better known stuff there are great versions of "Time After Time", "Till There Was You", "Till Then" and others. Not all of the songs are winners, but there's enough great stuff to make it more than worth the price.

This cd brought back memories of the days when romance was still special. The words and lyrics were simple but effective.The music didn't overpower you, instead it sooothed and gave you a warm glow.

This is a 2-disc album of "the very best" of the Ruby and the Romantics's collected works. Surprisingly, the entire album holds up as a contemporary pleasure, despite the nostalgic pull of the early 1960s where some arrangements remind one of songs sung by Dusty Springfield, Brenda Lee, Little Eva, or Dionne Warwick.

The first disc contains the more popular, more upbeat songs; the second disc contains the soulful ballads, and it's impossible to choose which disc is the best, except to say I didn't like the Christmas-like flavor of "Every Day Is a Holiday" on the first disc whereas on the second disc, I found all the ballads impossible not to enjoy thoroughly again and again. Then again, on the first disc there's the heartbreaking song, "By the Way," which is unmatched by any ballad on the second disc.

So it's all good, as the saying goes, and each disc satisfies according to one's mood.

The listener is especially rewarded by the wholly unforgettable "Our Day Will Come," but there are other musical pleasures here as well that one will come to treasure. Listening to Ruby and the Romantics keeps one young at heart.

Besides the 4 hits the cd is loaded with filler. Would have been a more effective as a single cd.

You will see mama, daddy, uncle and aunts, reappear in your home. You and your brothers and sisters laughter will fill the room. Big Mama and Big Poppa, will be beaming with love for the family!!!!! Lovely trip down memories lane!!!!!